The Colorado Buffaloes have long been the long-haired ski bumming stepchildren located over the Mountains from the rest of the Big 8.  And to be honest though they have talent they do not have the all-world talent the likes that the Kansas schools and the Oklahoma schools get.  Don’t get me wrong they have good players and have been a solid program stuck dare I say it in the limbo of mediocrity.  For years this program has been a day late and a dollar short of breaking through.  Coach Walseth has much pressure going into this season as he has made it clear he thinks this is the season for the Buffaloes.  And his confidence seems to have validity.   He has a senior class that is experienced talented and ready to take the next step including a generational player who has long slid under the national radar but is one of the superb all-around talents and leaders not only in the Big 8 but perhaps even the entire country. 

 Walseth has kept his senior group together for a long time even if he did inherit them from a master recruiter who could not quite get his prize pupils to the Promised Land.  Seniors Bobby ‘Talk Dirty to Me’ Doll, Jack Harvey, Tom Harrold, Wilky Gilmore, Bob Jeangerard, Jim Davis, Ken Charlton, Pat Frink, Chuck Gardner and Burdette Haldorsson all came in together.  This group does not want to leave knowing they never quite achieved what they set forth to do and to be honest are fully capable of doing.  The Buffaloes were a meandering group of club players until Coach Frosty Cox brought in this group and the rest is history.  They got all the way to the NIT but never really competed with the elite of the Big 8 and after a losing season the impatient administration made the change to Walseth.  Early success from Walseth has turned a bit south as he has had a hard time recruiting outside of the region and last year’s team was barely break even at 500.   He has brought in a slew of talent this year including some through the portal but this team will still rely on their super senior group to lead.  He has tried to keep this group that made basketball popular in Boulder and basically built Coors Event Center together so they could realize their potential and even in today’s world of transfer portals and JC he has been able to do that.  Probably because the Boulder campus is one of the most beautiful in the country and the experience there is mind-numbing.  Of course there are some issues with motivation as the coeds going to the games at CEC are not exactly the Cameron Crazies as stoners are not exactly the loudest groups and man does the nacho line get long at intermission.   But this group is ready to give it one more shot and this senior class deserves a shot at glory.  But then again don’t we all! 

 Foremost of the senior class is big man Burdette ‘Big Burd’ Haldorson, the gifted one we railed about earlier.  Burd has had a great career in Boulder for the Buffs but unless you are in the Big 8 you probably have never heard of him.  That is ironic of course since he is similar to the other Bird from Indiana who last year received all of that national publicity even though his team has not really achieved anything more than this Burd’s who are playing in a much more difficult conference.   The lack of recognition does not seem to bother Haldorson but the missed opportunities of this team sure do.  Blessed with one of the best hook shots (from either side) on the planet Burd is an offensive force.  He is also good on the boards and did a good job guarding the big centers in this league even if he was nowhere near the size of the behemoths that roam the Big 8.   Halldorson has spent 3 years banging with the Chamberlains, Lovelettes and Kurlands’s of the league and has held his own.  Undersized for sure, he never complained and has got the job done.  He could be the best player ever to play for the Buffs and he is for sure it’s most decorated and popular.  Haldorrson is a winner by any definition.  In Boulder The Burd really is the word.  But can he lead his flock/herd of Buffaloes back to the post season? 

The rest of Burdy’s fellow seniors might not bring as much to the table as he does but they all bring something.  Harvey, Doll, Gilmore and Charlton were big time players when the Buffs made their national run but have since faded primarily due to the fact they are not quite big enough to hang with the big boys anymore.  The world has changed and 6’5 and 6’3 post players have little chance of hanging in the paint in this league or anywhere else for that matter.  Billy Lewis (who also is on the track team) and Gilmore are also renaissance men who were the first black players ever to suit up in Boulder and handled that responsibility like the champs they are.  Lewis can jump to the moon (6’6 ¾ high jumper) but is only 6’3  and is also the student body president and has not played much on the basketball team.  Yet!  Gilmore (he is no girl) can play anywhere but missed a bunch of time last year with an injury and is way behind the eight ball with all the new talent in town.  This group has slowly been put out to pasture around here but Walseth will not completely cut them loose as they mean too much to this program.  Big Jim Davis is just the opposite as he goes 6’9 about 225 and with a mean streak to match.  Davis is a tough as nails post player who is not above jumping down a flight of stairs to help his team win.  Finesse is not his forte and boy do the Buffs need him around to make sure Haldorson and the rest of the team are not manhandled underneath.  Enforcer is not a strong enough word to describe what he does to keep the big boys down low off his teammates and though he may not be the number one offensive threat on this team he will score.  Of course rebounding and defense and setting some nifty screens are his calling card but he does have some competition for the starting job next to the Burd.  Even if he does not start Davis will be a huge part of this team’s drive to get to the next level this year. Like he was at the end of last year Davis will be the main muscle off the bench up front for this season.  JD is in one word tough.  JD loves to bang down low and his battles with Zaid Abdul-Aziz of Iowa State are legendary.  JD gave the Buffs the type of a mean streak every team needs and he can play as well.   He is a true team player and is unselfish to a fault but his work ethic and his desire are never in doubt.  JD is just not just for his initials but his attitude.  He has got that 60’s cool thing down to an art form.  Gardner has some size at 6’8 and will get some minutes but has been passed by on the totem pole.  He brings enough to the table to get at least some scraps after a solid, workmanlike career in Boulder.  Charlton comes into the year with a battle at the three spot.  The problem is this 6’6 stud plays more like a four than a three and has major issues trying to guard quicker wings.  Oh and he also has bad knees which this gamer limped through most of last year. He did miss a few games and that opened the door for some mighty stiff competition from a true 3 and we mean that figuratively and literally.  Charlton can flat score and board and at times has carried this team in some awful big games so he will get first dibs at starting.  How long he hangs is dependent completely on his defense and his bad knees.  This is tough on Sox as he once said that Charlton was the ‘best offensive player he had ever coached.’  Charlton is the full package with moves inside and out but as they say you can’t get on the court if you’re stuck in the hot tub!  Frink is the odds on favorite to start at the two guard but he does have some competition and has not come back to full strength after missing an entire year with a knee injury.  He only played half of the games last year and was nowhere near his former self.  At six four Frink can flat shoot and is perhaps the best three point guy this team has and they do have an arsenal of guys who can go behind the line.  If he is back to par Frink will give this team a tremendous boost on their goal of getting back to the post season and beyond.  Frink is a unique cat who volunteered at a homeless shelter and on an Indian Reservation while he was rehabbing last year and is known for his dedication in helping others.  Jeangerard is a gamer who is the opposite of Charlton and Frink in that he is way more defense than offense.  He is a wing who could play large minutes (he did last year with Frink out) or be at the deep end of the bench depending on who Sox brings in this year.  For now he will an early sub off the bench but if Walseth goes more offense Jeangerard could be in trouble.  Walseth has made it clear he will play the best players this year and that means some of these upperclassmen might be losing their playing time as the bottom line is this team has got to win now. 

Coach Walseth started the process of transitioning this team over to underclassmen last season and that will kick into a full scale takeover this year.  The leader of this rebel group is post player Cliff Meely.  The Junior has become the number one offensive weapon for the Buffs.  He has a great post game and can bang with anyone.  He loves to play and wants the ball at the end of the game.  He teams with Haldorson to give the Buffs a great pair of post players who may not be as big as other teams in this league but are every bit as good.  At six foot eight and 215 he is big enough and strong enough to dominate the paint and he has a nice touch.  Like most of the rest of his teammates Meely does not get the recognition he deserves as compared to his compatriots who also play the power forward position.  So he doesn’t play the bass guitar he has all the skills and toughness it takes to be great four and that is just what he is.  Maybe he needs a nickname like the Big E or the Mailman?  That doesn’t hurt the Burd around here at all.  How about the Cliffanator?  No that is stupid.  Whatever it takes Meely needs the recognition he deserves.  As Coach Phog Allen said after he scored 24 and grabbed 12 boards against the JayHawks.  That kid is ‘one of the five most underrated players in college basketball.  Period!’   You might not know him but they love him in Boulder!  He is more popular than Mowie Wowie!  Well almost!  Either way this is his team and Boulder is his town! 

Junior Scott Wedman took full advantage of Charlton’s inability to play last year and got his fair share of the minutes at small forward and showed off his long range jump shot.  Wedman is a student of the game who pleased the Buff faithful with his’ mile high’ bombs.  He is not just a one trick pony but is not exactly a terrific athlete on the wing though he is a solid defender even against more athletic guys.  He makes up for that with an incredible regimen of workout and diet that keeps him in his ultimate shape.  The Boulder kids love him because like them he is a granola (vegetarian) who has a free spirit.  Dubbed the Incredible Hulk by teammates for his weight lifting regimen it paid off as he only missed three games after a serious car injury.  The doctors said he only got back that quick to how good of shape he is in.  But he is not all about being Jack Lalanne.  Wedman can play.  And oh can he shoot and yes he is a Warrior.  The Buffs have recruited the heck out of wings who can run and shoot as they have at least four kids coming in who can flat play.  This is a need here as the Buffs have fallen behind the rest of the Jones in the Big 8 in their athleticism especially in the back court.  They are all in the 6’5 to 6’6 range and athletic as heck and yes they can all hoist threes.  This group might not play much right away but the future of this program like of all of basketball are in these types of studs. 

 Fellow Junior Chuck (no E, sorry Rickie Lee) Williams looks like he will be the starter again but got some competition last year at the point.  He is a solid all-around point who can score a bit and distribute.  He opened the door last year with a knee injury much like Charlton for an underclassmen to step up and get some minutes.  That freshman from last year played well and now Williams will have to battle for his job but he can play and will not go softly into the night. Sophomore Jay Humphries is the one battling Williams for the starting job at the point after a solid first year in Boulder.  A tremendous defender as well as passer, Humphries should be a fixture on this team for foreseeable future which hopefully means the next three years in modern times.  He plays tough man to man defense and loves to pick pocket but his best attribute is running the team.  He is a great quarterback.  His only downside realistically is that he is not a good perimeter shooter and teams lay off him.  If he improves here he has a great shot of passing up Williams on the depth chart but unless Walseth has a superstar coming down the pike these two will both get solid minutes.  Senior Tom Harrold actually began last year as the starter but faded quick as he is a bit small for the physicality of this conference.  Harrold is a nice distributor of the ball but at 5’’1 167 was getting bludgeoned by bigger, stronger guards such as the Jayhawk combo Valentine and White.  He is back for one more year but has fallen far down the hierarchy and might not be getting many minutes this season especially with Williams and Humphries around.  There is a local kid who has been dropping heads around here for quite some time but an injury late in his HS career kept him out of the Mickey D’s All America game.  This injury might have hurt Chauncey Billups chances of going to a bigger school (Kansas and Cal were in the running) but it might be the Buffaloes gain. This Denver kid was a 4 year All-State player and Colorado Mr. Basketball three times and though he might miss some time in his first year he might be what the doctor ordered (or at least Walseth) for this program.  Billups is a 6’3 point guard who can do it all and when he does suit up in Boulder the fans are in for a treat. 

 Billups is a nice get and it is always good to keep your kids at home but the biggest recruit by far and maybe ever for the Buffs is incoming freshmen David Harrison.  Harrison is a true seven footer and goes about 250 pound and the reach to match.  This five star recruit was the Tennessee player of the year but somehow chose to go west and Walseth and company could not be happier.  He is a big rough around the edges but the kid can play (he is already a terrific shot blocker) and you don’t find that kind of size walking down the street every day.  The Buffs have never had a truly dominant big man and playing in the land of Giants of the Big 8 it is almost a prerequisite if you want to remain jolly in these greenlands of corn.   You never know if he is the real deal but at least Harrison can hang physically with anyone. 

The Colorado Buffaloes have had an up and down run since they entered the mighty Big 7 (now Big 8) and are looking to move on back up under fiery Coach Sox Walseth.  Walseth has an experienced crew of veterans and has also some fine underclassmen mixed in to make up a team that could surprise in this tough but small (at least in numbers) conference.  There is not much room for error in this league and most programs fill their out of conference schedule with some heavyweights but like everything else for the Buffaloes they are caught in between on this issue as well.  The University to the west most of the league right ‘dab’ in the middle of the Rockies gets it from both sides as they seem destined to play teams from the Midwest region and the West Coast and still fit in those Rocky Mountain rivals.  The Buffs did not get the cream of the crop however as there is no Houston or UCLA or especially long-time rivals and neighbors Arizona (diagonal as it may be) and near neighbors (that damn panhandle) Texas who both have taken the route of scheduling more national powers to increase their SOS.  Not that Colorado got just leftovers but UDub and Baylor and Pepperdine are just not in the same category as the aforementioned teams.  At least they got their other neighbors as Wyoming, New Mexico and the Utes of Utah are all aboard plus there in state rivals but obviously this group (and it is a large group when you get 14 out of conference games) is not going to bump you up in the TV viewing game of the end of the year ratings games that get you into the post season.  The Buffs will have to win on the court as many as they can especially in their home league which is after all rated pretty damn good and even if they do feel like the red-headed stepchild at times they can still stir some things up for those powerhouse teams looking to add some bigger programs to the mix.  It seems the Big 8 loves Texas and there are rumors that there will be a raid soon on the SWC and the Buffs might have to start looking west for some greener pastures.  After all there is only so long you can be left at the Kid’s table before you take your plate and go looking for another house to eat in.  And this house might have some Ocean views.  As for this year’s basketball team Colorado is where they always are in the Big 8.  Right ‘dab’ in the middle looking for a few breaks to move up with the Jayhawks (ok with the Sooners and Cowboys) and hoping that they don’t slide down into the basement with the Cyclones and Cornhuskers.